California Dems ask Newsom to spend $5B to help renters struggling in pandemic
Sac Bee's HANNAH WILEY: "A group of California Democrats wants Gov. Gavin Newsom to set aside billions of dollars in additional funding to help tenants keep up with their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Eighteen Assembly members and senators said in prepared statements that setting aside $5 billion in the state budget specifically for renters will help prevent evictions and homelessness during a public health emergency that’s already exacerbated income inequity in the Golden State.
They released their call for more funds a day before Newsom is scheduled to release his 2021-2022 budget proposal."
1 in 5 coronavirus tests are positive in LA County, pointing to tough weeks ahead
LA Times's LUKE MONEY/RONG-GONG LIN II/MATTHEW ORMSETH: "About 1 in 5 coronavirus tests performed daily in Los Angeles County are coming back positive, an astounding rate that officials say illustrates the pandemic’s continued rampage through the region and foreshadows grave consequences for an already beleaguered healthcare system.
Around Nov. 1, roughly the starting point of the current coronavirus wave, only about 1 of every 25 tests confirmed an infection.
Officials warn that the arithmetic is as grim as it is simple. When such a high proportion of people are testing positive and tens of thousands of tests are conducted a day, case counts end up staggeringly high. And when community transmission is this prolific, officials warn that activities that seemed mundane months ago now carry a higher risk of infection than ever."
READ MORE related to Pandemic: Was the Capitol siege a COVID super-spreader event? Here's what experts say -- The Chronicle's ANIE VAINSHTEIN; Bay Area ICU availability falls to lowest level yet, as state tries to speed up vaccinations -- The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO
Pfizer study suggests its vaccine works against coronavirus variant
AP: "New research suggests that Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine can protect against a mutation found in two possibly more contagious variants of the coronavirus that erupted in Britain and South Africa.
Those variants are causing global concern. They both share a common mutation called N501Y, a slight alteration on one spot of the spike protein that coats the virus. That change is believed to be the reason that the variants can spread so easily.
Most of the vaccines being rolled out around the world train the body to recognize that spike protein and fight it. Pfizer teamed with researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston for laboratory tests to see if the mutation affected its vaccine’s ability to do so."
READ MORE related to Vaccine: Sacramento-area firefighters getting inoculated, as Newsom calls for faster vaccinations -- Sac Bee's TONY BIZJAK
Trump faces demands for his removal, but is there time to act?
LA Times's EVAN HALPER/JANET HOOK/JENNIFER HABERKORN: "Congress’ Democratic leaders on Thursday demanded President Trump’s removal from office — vowing a swift impeachment, if necessary — in an effort to stop him from unleashing more chaos in his final, rage-filled days.
Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer called on Trump’s Cabinet to oust him by invoking the 25th Amendment, which was designed to remove a president who is incapacitated or unwell. They warned that the House would quickly consider impeachment articles if that does not happen.
Schumer said he and Pelosi tried to call Vice President Mike Pence on Thursday morning to urge him to follow the 25th Amendment, but Pence would not take their call."
READ MORE related to POTUS45's Seditious Insurrection/Renewed Calls for 25A : Right-wiing protests at US Capitol find support in Bay Area, but no immediate local demonstrations erupt -- The Chronicle's KEVIN FAGAN; Capitol Police officer dies after confrontation with Trump mob -- LA Times's RICHARD WINTON; Violence at US Capitol is only the beginning of 'Trumpism,' says California Republican -- Sac Bee's GIL DURAN; 'Shocked': Bay Area residents, officials argue Trump should be held accountable for 'attempted coup' -- The Chronicle's JILL TUCKER/ALEXEI KOSEFF/NORA MISHANEC; Photos: Trump supporters turn violent, storm US Capitol -- LA Times; Calm after the storm | Photos of cleanup following US Capitol siege -- LA Times; Pelosi's Dems want to remove Trump, but it's easier said than done -- The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN; Trump says classical buildings 'encourage civic virtue,' but his mob ransacked the classical US Capitol with glee -- The Chronicle's JOHN KING; Could Trump and his allies face criminal charges for blitz on Capitol? In theory, yes -- The Chronicle's BOB EGELKO
What a Democratic Senate means for California: $2,000 payments, budget relief likely
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "When sanity returns to Washington and Donald Trump’s insurrectionists are defeated, Democrats will control the Senate along with the House and White House — which could lead to new financial help for California governments and Californians.
Although it’s unclear how the riots that temporarily prevented Congress from confirming Joe Biden’s victory as president Wednesday will play out in the long run, it’s clear that Democrats will have more ability to pass legislation than at any time since Barack Obama’s first term.
That was ensured Wednesday when it became clear that Democrat Jon Ossoff had defeated Republican David Perdue in Tuesday’s Senate runoff elections in Georgia. He joined the Rev. Raphael Warnock, who defeated Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, in the Democratic sweep in the state that gave the party a 50-50 split in the U.S. Senate."
After EDD freezes 1.4M accounts, agency could be swamped by ID verifications
The Chronicle's CAROLYN SAID: "California has suspended a stunning 1.4 million unemployment claims in an effort to combat fraud, sweeping up many legitimately laid-off people along the way.
The massive volume of fresh identity checks required, on top of an already-stressed system, means it could take weeks for many people to have their benefits reinstated.
“Based on the slow processing of claims throughout the pandemic, and the current backlog of claims that remain, we know that EDD cannot reinstate legitimate claims in a timely manner,” said Daniela Urban, executive director of the Center for Workers’ Rights in Sacramento. “This means that claimants will once again be without these essential benefits.”"
CW Podcast: What next for the CAGOP?
Capitol Weekly STAFF: "On Tuesday we published journalist A.G. Block’s in-depth analysis of the woes plaguing California’s Republican Party: they run barely ahead of ‘Decline to State’ in voter registration, have no elected statewide officials, and hold only a third of the state’s legislative seats and about a quarter of the state’s Congressional seats. Republican candidates didn’t even make the ‘Top Two’ in the state’s 2016 and 2018 U.S.
Hours after we published the story, Democrats won both U.S. Senate seats in a Georgia runoff election, handing control of the Senate to the Democrats. Yesterday, Trump loyalists stormed the U.S. Capitol, disrupting the congressional certification of Biden’s electoral college vote, resulting in four deaths. Media reported that members of the President’s Cabinet were discussing the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment to remove him from power.
A.G. joined John Howard and Tim Foster today to talk about the plight of California Republicans over the long haul, and what the events of the past few days might mean."
List: How each California lawmaker voted on Electoral College count
The Chronicle's KELLIE HWANG: "Members of Congress affirmed President-elect Joe Biden’s victory early Thursday after completing their count of electoral votes — a process interrupted the previous day when a violent mob incited by President Trump stormed the Capitol.
Some Republican lawmakers had planned a series of objections to states’ election results based on unsupported allegations of voter fraud. The House and Senate were separately debating the first objection, to Arizona’s results, when the rioters breached the Capitol. Lawmakers were escorted from the chambers and the building was locked down.
When they reconvened after the occupation, some lawmakers who had planned to back the objections changed their minds. After the Arizona challenge, only one other objection, to Pennsylvania’s results, advanced to a vote. Both challenges failed in both the House and Senate."
READ MORE related to Electoral College Count: Here's how many California Republicans voted to reject election results after violence -- The Chronicle's TAL KOPAN
Californians shouldn't travel more than 120 miles from home, state says
LA Times's LUKE MONEY/RONG-GONG LIN II: "Californians are being urged to stay close to home — and residents of other states to stay out — under a new travel advisory issued in hopes of curtailing the raging spread of the coronavirus.
Under the updated guidance from the California Department of Public Health, issued Wednesday, Californians are told to eschew traveling anywhere in the state that’s more than 120 miles from their residences, unless doing so is essential.
Travelers from other states or countries are also “strongly discouraged” from coming to California, except for essential purposes."
Downtown developer will pay $12M in LA City Hall corruption case
LA Times's DAVID ZAHNISER: "A real estate company whose 35-story residential tower is a major part of the federal bribery case against former Los Angeles Councilman Jose Huizar has agreed to pay $1.2 million to resolve its portion of the investigation, prosecutors said Thursday.
Carmel Partners, which is developing the tower known as 520 Mateo in L.A.’s Arts District, agreed to make the payment as part of a non-prosecution agreement reached last month. The three-year agreement will spare the company from becoming a defendant in the corruption case.
The agreement contained an allegation against Huizar that has not appeared in previous indictments. At one point in 2018, the document said, Huizar asked a Carmel executive if he would provide $250,000 in exchange for a reduction in the amount the company paid into a fund for affordable housing."
DeVos resigns as Sec of Education
DFP's DAVID JESSE: "Betsy DeVos, the West Michigan political force who rose to secretary of education, resigned Thursday night, saying President Donald Trump incited a mob that invaded the Capitol Wednesday.
“We should be highlighting and celebrating your Administration’s many accomplishments on behalf of the American people,” DeVos wrote in a letter to the president. “Instead we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protesters overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people’s business. That behavior was unconscionable for our country. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.
“Impressionable children are watching all of this, and they are learning from us. I believe we each have a moral obligation to exercise good judgement [sic] and model the behavior they would emulate. They must know from us that America is greater than what transpired yesterday.”"
Health director calls for hard 3-week school shutdown in LA county amid deadly COVID surge
LA Times's HOWARD BLUME: "Los Angeles County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer on Thursday called for all K-12 campuses to shut down through January amid the raging coronavirus surge, but stopped short of ordering them to close.
Ferrer said the danger is too great from the unprecedented prevalence of COVID-19 in the community to continue to provide in-person services and instruction on campuses except in rare cases where it is absolutely necessary. She also called for a pause in athletic conditioning, which has been allowed.
“I’m strongly recommending that schools not reopen for in-person instruction,” Ferrer said on a call with school leaders. “I’m recommending this for three weeks until the end of January.”"
George Floyd billboard, rejected elsewhere for 'violence,' rises in West Hollywood
LA Times's MAKEDA EASTER: "In painter Don Perlis’ re-creation of the brutal killing of George Floyd, an officer kneels on Floyd’s neck and two other officers further pin him down, as another officer in the background looks away from the scene. Floyd’s eyes, frozen in anguish, gaze out toward the viewer.
The oil painting, alongside a quote from the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. — “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” — is amplified on a 16-by-48-foot billboard on La Cienega Boulevard and Holloway Drive, near the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood.
The billboard, which went up Monday, is from a group called the George Floyd Justice Billboard Committee. Its goal is to keep Floyd’s death front and center amid a seemingly never-ending news cycle, which most recently included a shockingly different police response to Trump supporters who violently broke into the nation’s Capitol. In late October, the group ran a similar billboard in New York’s Times Square, with a quote from the Dalai Lama: “Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” The West Hollywood billboard will remain up for four weeks, and a replica is up in Atlanta."
Here are the WH resignations triggered by Trump's incitement of this week's mob violence
LA Times's CHRIS MEGERIAN: "They stuck with President Trump through Charlottesville, Helsinki and Lafayette Square. They defended him through the Russian investigation and his impeachment. But now, with two weeks left in his term, some of Trump’s loyalists are quitting his administration.
Here’s a look at who has left so far, and we’ll be updating this page if more people resign.
DeVos has led the Department of Education since the beginning of Trump’s term. She announced her resignation Thursday."
Trump returns to Twitter after suspension, calls for 'smooth' transition of power
Sac Bee's DON SWEENEY: "President Donald Trump resumed posting to Twitter on Thursday with a video, following a suspension for his posts during a riot at the US Capitol.
“Like all Americans I am outraged by the violence, lawlessness and mayhem,” Trump said in the video. “America is and must always be a nation of law and order.”
Trump said “tempers must be cooled” after the election, and said he will work toward a peaceful transition of power to President-elect Joe Biden."
READ MORE related to Transition of Power: Trump concedes it's transition time. Will Pelosi now move to impeach him twice? -- Sac Bee's DAVID LIGHTMAN; California Republicans' choiced: Respect election results or honor Trump -- The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI; Trump resumes tweeting as FB, Twitch, YouTube threaten permabans -- The Chronicle's ROLAND LI/CHASE DIFELICIANTONIO
Neil Sheehan, war correspondent who obtained the Pentagon Papers, dies at 84
LA Times's LEILA MILLER: "Neil Sheehan, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who obtained the top-secret Pentagon Papers that revealed how the United States for years had deceived the American public about the scope and success of its involvement in Vietnam, has died at his home in Washington.
Sheehan, who was suffering from Parkinson’s disease, died Thursday, his wife, Susan Sheehan, told the New York Times. He was 84.
The award-winning journalist was among a group of young war correspondents whose dispatches from the front lines challenged U.S. government accounts of success in Vietnam. Presidential administrations questioned the reporters’ patriotism, as well as their news coverage."